Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara TrueloveMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was...okay. It's a mashup of science fiction/science fantasy and a monster movie, as all four of the classic monsters make their appearance: Dracula, Frankensten, the Werewolf and the Mummy. Characters from the books--Victor Frankenstein, Wilhelmina Murray, Renfield, et cetera--also show up, and the nominal main character is the anxiety-ridden, AI-powered starship the Demeter.
This book is not for someone looking to read about serious, nuanced issues. It's frothy and fast-paced (except for the sagging middle--I almost gave up a couple of times, as Demeter seemed to be spinning in circles and getting nowhere, but the last third of the book tightened up considerably) and has a very old-fashioned, pulpish feel. It also deals with found family, as Demeter adopts the four monsters that travel aboard her, and she falls in love with her medical AI, Steward. At the end, after Dracula has been torn to pieces by the werewolf, Agnus, Demeter is repaired and retrofitted for a long exploratory voyage, and she and her newfound crew and family head out.
Having said all this, I think this book is ultimately pretty forgettable. If you want a far better story dealing with Dracula and a ship named the Demeter, watch the movie The Last Voyage of the Demeter. That film has setting and a creepy atmosphere in abundance, and is just better told than this story, I think.
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